Date	Saturday, 12 August 2000
Competition	Scottish League Division 1
Fixture/Score	Ross County 0:2 Clyde
Venue	Victoria Park
Attendance	2,645
Referee	Alan Freeland
Comments	Match Report Report from the Press & Journal. Ross County 0 Clyde 2 Ross County manager Neale Cooper yesterday leapt to the defence of his illness and injury stricken squad after Saturday's 2-0 defeat home to Clyde. Cooper felt not enough attention was paid to the forced absences in his selection or to the proportion of players who played despite carrying knocks and the ill-effects of a virus sweeping the Victoria Park ranks. He said: "i don't like it to come across as if I am making excuses, but we were seriously depleted and I'd like to stand up for the players. Clyde are a big, physical side and we had a lot of players who weren't well and others who were carrying bad knocks. "It is a symptom of having a tighter squad to choose from that we had to play with at least four or five who I would have liked to have rested and I have talked with the chairman about the possibility of strengthening to give us greater depth." Cooper's list of casualties included suspended Brian Irvine and John McQuade, who is yet to make his debut after suffering a knee injury. Craig Taggart was hauled off midway through the first half after showing the ill-effects of a virus which had him bed-ridden through most of the week; while sub Darren Henderson had similar symptoms. Paul Kinnaird was absent with a thigh injury, while George Shaw missed out with a knee problem. On top of that, Steve Ferguson played despite having to see a specialist today about his ankle problem. while John Fraser carried a toe infection and Franck Escalon a thigh strain. Escalon suffered ill-effects after the game, and may add to Cooper's worries ahead of tomorrow night's Challenge Cup clash, again with Clyde, while Eddie Cunnington had ice pack treatment after the match. With County's treatment table resembling a bad Saturday night in the Casualty wards, Cooper feels home fans will see better things in weeks to come. However, Clyde are producing the goods now and Adam Proudlock want to be mixing it in the English Premiership this time next year. For those there to witness his stunning opener on Saturday, that did not seem too much of a pipe-dream. The on-loan Wolves striker's explosive start to his Scottish sojourn continued with a truly breath-taking fifth goal in three games for Clyde, before Pat Keogh killed off Ross County in the second half.
Ross County
Manager	Neale Cooper
Starting 11	1: Joseph (Nicky) Walker, 2: Ian Maxwell, 3: Edward Cunnington 1, 4: David MacKay, 5: John Fraser, 6: Mark Millar, 7: Kenneth Gilbert, 8: Franck Escalon, 9: Craig Taggart, 10: Derek Holmes, 11: Alexander Bone 1
Bench	0: Garry Hamilton, 0: Martin Canning, 0: Darren Henderson, 0: Steven Ferguson, 0: David Ross 1
Clyde
Manager	Allan Maitland
Starting 11	Bryn Halliwell, Brian Smith, Darren Murray, Craig Cranmer 1, Mark McLaughlin 1, Barry Sellars, Ross Jack, Stevie Convery, Alan Grant, Pat Keogh 1, Adam Proudlock 1 1
Bench	Danny Hanley, Gordon Greer, Ritchie McCusker, Nicky Henderson, Andy Kane